MacArthur Fired April 10, 1951

MacArthur and Truman

MacArthur lobbied for a bigger war with China. He went behind the back of the President and finally he was relieved of command.


From the beginning of the war, there was constant friction between MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs in Washington. MacArthur constantly pressured to expand the war, claiming that the only way to bring about victory was by taking the war to China. After the defeat of the American forces in November, he claimed that the only way to stop the Chinese was to expand the war. Ridgeway's victories undermined that position. After it became clear that the conflict was heading towards a stalemate, MacArthur began to oppose that policy, believing in the need for a larger war. He wrote a letter to the House Republican Leader, stating that anything less than total victory in Asia was unacceptable. This, as well as some of his other actions -- including his secret communications to the Spanish government -- brought about the difficult decision to relieve MacArthur of his command. On April 11, he was so informed.